


Separate Ways

by Ka5hew



Category: Daredevil (TV), The Punisher (TV 2017)
Genre: Denial of Feelings, Fluff, FrattWeek, Hurt/Comfort, I wrote it kinda unrequited but I don’t want it to be so its not, M/M, but not really, franks in denial, frattweek4, just a tiny bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 02:27:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29270973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ka5hew/pseuds/Ka5hew
Summary: He hit the water and it felt like concrete, cold and hard. He tried to breath but the water just filled his lungs, in his nose, in his mouth. It was everywhere. He was surrounded, he was going to drown.
Relationships: Frank Castle/Matt Murdock
Kudos: 24
Collections: Fratt Week





	Separate Ways

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Frattweek day 1 prompt ‘Water’. This turned out a lot shorter than I expected Idk why, but i hope u all enjoy anyways!

He hit the water and it felt like concrete, cold and hard. He tried to breath but the water just filled his lungs, in his nose, in his mouth. It was everywhere. He was surrounded, he was going to drown. 

>>>

The mission was simple, get in, stop the drugs from being shipped, and leave. He was supposed to be in and out quickly, home before midnight if he was lucky, but when was Frank ever lucky?

He should’ve expected that the Devil would show up, bastard always did.  
Frank ignored him, just like he always did, or tried to do, it was becoming harder and harder lately. There was just something about The Devil that meant Frank couldn’t help but look. The man always swooped in when Frank didn’t want him to (but probably needed him). It was like he had a sixth sense, or a freakishly good sense of hearing (Frank was betting on the latter). After countless nights fighting together and then each other, they had grown tired and had come to a silent mutual agreement that if they ever crossed paths during missions, they would stay out of each other’s way whilst fighting and then just leave. The devil didn’t feel the need to preach about what he couldn’t see, and Frank didn’t need to argue if the job got done. So that’s what they stuck to. Do the job, and then go their separate ways.   
That’s how it was, that’s how it always should have been.

Except today. 

The fight had been going well, most of the men down, some with bullets in them, some just knocked out. The Devil seemed out of it tonight so Frank had been doing most of the work, though he didn’t mention it. Should he? Not because he was trying to be nice, no. It was slowing down their work, that was all.   
He didn’t care if there was something wrong with Red, he was just curious. Nothing else. Though he had noticed it more and more lately. The man's reflexes were slower than usual, and he seemed to be in his own world when they went on steak outs, only snapping to attention after Frank did. It used to be the other way around. Curiosity (or concern, thought Frank would never admit it) got the better of him and he decided he was going to find out. Most of the men were taken out now, so he turned to Red. 

“Hey, Red” he started, getting the man's attention, except as soon as he did, one of the drug dealers, whom they had both assumed was unconscious, sought their chance and pushed. 

Red fell into the river. 

>>>

He woke up freezing. He tried to move but his clothes weighed him down, or was that a hand? He tried to listen for a heartbeat around him, but everything came to him muffled. Was he still under water? No, he could breath. But he couldn’t hear anything, why couldn’t he hear anything? And who was holding him down?   
Then, he remembered what had happened: the drug dealers, the river. The drug dealers. 

Matt started to struggle, he had to get out, he had to get away. The hand on his chest kept pushing him down, a muffled voice still calling his name, except it wasn't his name, they were calling him ‘Red’. Only one person called him Red. 

Immediately, Matt stopped, and listened. His ears were still full of water, but it was there, thought it was faint. 

“God damn it Red, it’s me ” 

A familiar annoyed tone and deep voice; it was Frank. Matt relaxed upon his realisation and slumped back to the floor, except it wasn't the floor, it was softer. It took him a moment to realise they were franks arms, but by the time he did, he was on the edge of consciousness. He felt his body being lifted up before letting his eyes slip closed and welcomed the darkness. 

>>>

Red was lighter than Frank had expected. Concerningly so. Had the man been eating enough? Brushing off the thought, Frank headed back to his van, The Devil still in his arms. This was a one time thing, he promised himself as he gently laid the man gently into the back of his van, though part of him knew it was going to end up being a lie.   
Getting into the driver's seat, Frank turned on the radio at a low volume to help clear his thoughts and drove.   
Some overly happy pop song was playing, probably the work of Amy from the last time he let her use the radio, but it did the job, the melody kept the thoughts from resurfacing and before he knew it, they were at his safe house.

He knew where Red lived, it wasn’t hard to find out. He didn’t dig further after he had though; he respected Red’s privacy, to a certain extent. But after seeing the man's panicked reaction when waking up, Frank had thought it best that he didn’t reveal that he knew where he lived just yet. It might lessen the trust the man had in him, if he had any at all. Why did that matter to him? Why did it matter if Red trusted him or not? He was just an annoyance, right? 

Frank laid him down onto his bed before going to greet Max. The pit bull was, as always, overjoyed to see his owner return, and jumped at Frank, licking him and furiously wagging his tail. Frank smiled, Max was one of the few good things in his life. He had found him at a shelter. Others were reluctant to take him, so Frank did. 

Max, after greeting Frank, headed straight for the bedroom to sniff out who Frank had brought in. Frank got to work taking off his armour, washing his hands of the blood and filling up a glass of water before checking in on Red again, only to find him awake, and stroking Max, who was curled up next to him, that traitor.   
The sight took him by surprise, to see The Devil so calm. It stirred something inside him that he’d rather not think about.   
He realised he’d been staring when Red spoke up.

“What’s his name?”

Frank froze for a second. Whatever he had expected, it definitely hadn’t been that.

“Uh, Max”

“He’s a nice dog” Red continued to stroke him, that soft look on his face, visible even with the mask on. 

“You want some water?” He asked, remembering the reason he came in in the first place. 

Red just gave him a deadpan expression. Frank stared back, keeping his face serious. And then, to his amazement, Red started to laugh. It was a quiet chuckle, but his shoulders shook with it, and his voice sounded slightly hoarse, probably from the near drowning. But it was oddly beautiful. It then hit him that he’d never seen the man laugh before. He didn’t want it to stop. 

“Thanks for the offer but I’m good,” Red replied eventually, getting off the bed and looking heading towards the window.

“Hey! You were dying less than an hour ago, you really gonna go parkouring again?” 

“I wasn’t dying, that and exaggeration, and I don’t ‘parkour’, I’m not Spider-Man”

“Whatever, you know what I mean” 

Red looked at him, one leg already out the window. Frank didn’t know if he saw the silent plea in his eyes or if he just decided to ignore it anyways.

“Thanks for the rescue… goodbye Frank” 

He jumped out the window and left.   
They had done the job, it was a reminder that they should go their separate ways.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like I wrote it so it sounds unrequited but I’m thinking of maybe writing another part from Matt’s perspective, but writers block is making it really hard so i guess we’ll see. Thank for reading!


End file.
